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NEW: NOW on CD-ROMLooking for a great unit study or supplement for your history curriculum on Ancient China for students ages 9 and up? Also a great resource for parents and educators teaching younger children! This issue of Learning Through History magazine is perfect for a unit on China!

Ancient China can be purchased: in our online store by clicking here or Call (239)-829-5638 to order or for more info. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and Paypal.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

HOW CHILDREN LIVE IN ... ANCIENT CHINA Meet Zhang Li and hear about his caravan trip with his father from Chang'an to Dunhuang

CHOPSTICKS: THE HISTORY AND ETIQUETTE Learn some of the legends surrounding the origins of chopsticks, how to use them, and how to mind your manners in China

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA: BARRIER TO ENTRY From the mounds of earth pushed together in the Warring States period to the stone wall erected in the Ming Dynasty, learn about the history of the Great Wall

AN AMAZING DISCOVERY: CHINA'S CLAY SOLDIERS Discover the ancient army of terra-cotta soldiers and horses from the Qin Dynasty that archaeologists have unearthed

THE CHINESE ZODIAC: LEGEND OF THE ANIMALS Are you a dragon? Maybe a monkey? Or are you a horse, impatient with people, yet always ready to have fun? Find out more about the Chinese zodiac, including the story of how all of the animals were assigned their order in the zodiac

AN INTERVIEW WITH CONFUCIUS, BUDDHA, AND LAO TZU Hear a discussion between three spiritual leaders in ancient China as they discuss their respective philosophies

SERICULTURE: SECRET OF THE WORKER WORMS Could you keep a secret for more than two thousand years? The ancient Chinese did. Between 3000 B.C. and 200 B.C. They kept the secret of sericulture, the process of raising silkworms to harvest raw silk. Find out how it works

ORACLE BONES: THE ANCIENT ORIGINS OF CHINESE WRITING Chinese character writing, the oldest writing system still in use today, is believed to have originated during the Shang Dynasty. Take a look at the oracle bones the Shang people used to talk to the gods and see their connection to the modern Chinese language

HELP ME UNDERSTAND: SIMPLIFYING THE CHINESE LANGUAGE Hear a story about how Wang Qikun, a minister of justice in the Han Dynasty, helped simplify Chinese character writing. Then test your skill at matching different Chinese characters with each other

MAO WHO? SPELLING OUT CHINESE Have you ever noticed that Chinese names and words are not always spelled the same way in English? These different spellings come from different systems of Romanization - ways of writing out Chinese words with Roman (Latin) letters. See examples of how this works with names of cities, words, and phrases

THE GREAT CHINESE INVENTION FAIR Discover all of the wondrous inventions of the ancient Chinese in science, technology, agriculture, communications, and daily life - many of which impact our lives today

SHAKING DRAGON Earthquake detection began with a decorative bronze jar surrounded by figures of frogs. Sound mysterious? Find out how the first seismoscope worked and were the precursor of the modern seismograph

PASSING THE EXAM Think you have what it takes to succeed in ancient China? Learn about one ticket to success - the civil service exam based upon a rigorous course of study of Confucian thought

PATH TO DISCOVERY: STORY OF THE SILK ROAD Explore how the trade network know as the Silk Road got its start and what type of merchandise flowed across it

AN ANCIENT VISION: THE GRAND CANAL OF CHINA What is the longest human-made waterway in the world? Why it's the Grand Canal of China - an engineering marvel that began 2500 years ago and spans 1100 miles

COLORS OF THE PAST: PRESERVING THE TERRA-COTTA ARMY Once the terra-cotta figures were dug out of the earth, archaeologists soon discovered that they lost their colors and turned a uniform brownish-grey. They turned to chemists for a solution to preserve the brilliance of the soldiers - find out how they did it

BUDDHISM GOES TO CHINA Follow Buddhism as it traveled from India to China to become one of the major religions to influence Chinese culture and challenge Confucianism and Taoism